Kissing a puppet
by Lorelei Candice Black
Summary: A different ending to S02E18. Emma does something while believing in her powers more and it changes things. Tamara doesn't get away, Gold comes to help, Regina is stopped... True Love's kiss? One-shot. Just taking my wishes for reality here.


_**Kissing a puppet**_

_Emma/ August_

_Set in season 2, episode 18. How the episode could have gone._

_A little one-shot._

_I got the idea earlier today... Written and published immediately... I guess this story wanted to get out!_

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Emma couldn't believe it. August was dead. One moment she heard that he was completely wooden and hiding in the woods, the next he's running towards her, trying to tell her something and then he was gone. It wasn't fair.

She couldn't let that happen. She had let him turn to wood once because she was in a hurry to save Henry, only thinking of kissing him to turn him back to man later but when she went back to find him, after breaking the curse, he had been gone. At the time she thought he was simply another person she had come to care for that left her, not caring if she was hurt by his absence but now that she knew why he left...

She wouldn't let him go this once.

She refused to lose another person she loved, especially when he had risked his life to warn her of a danger. She had worked so hard to open up to him only feeling abandoned when she found his room empty. Now that she knew why he had left, she was going to fight to see what they could be. She was going to fight for him to stay alive, and if possible, human. After all, he had been brave, truthful and unselfish, right?

"No! He can't die! I won't let him!" Emma cried after August closed his eyes, unable to speak the last words of his warning.

"Mom?" Henry asked her.

"He's not dying! No! I'm not losing anyone else, he pushed my walls down, forced me to open up and now he dies? No!" Emma said again before she bent closer to the man who had helped her so much break the curse and she placed her lips against his wooden ones, kissing him softly, putting everything she had in this kiss.

While she kissed August, Emma remembered how Gold told her to let herself feel and not to think when she placed the protections around his shop against Cora. She concentrated on her slowly growing feelings for him, on how happy she was when he was by her side, helping her, reassuring her, believing in her.. She put all the love she was capable of feeling into this kiss, mentally begging for it to work.

Neal and his girlfriend arrived at the exact moment Emma started to kiss August, along with the Blue fairy who came from the other side of the parking lot and everyone watched in amazement as a powerful pulse of the strongest and purest magic they ever felt left her lips and went all over the town as August slowly turned back to a man, a living man of flesh, blood and bones.

"Emma... You saved me..." He smiled.

"Well, it was the right thing to do." She replied with a whisper and it made Henry smiled as he remembered reading how Prince Charming and Snow had said that to each other before.

"Maybe we should leave Neal... Give them their intimacy." Tamara whispered, trying to pull Neal backward as Emma moved out of August's way to help him stand up with Marco's help.

August was still in pain but at least he was alive and he was holding on to his father and Emma to stand up when he looked up and saw Neal and Tamara standing not too far. Tamara seemed to be trying to pull Neal away.

"You! Arrest her Emma! She killed me, she killed the Dragon before me in Thailand. Tamara's planning to kill everyone here." August shouted as he pointed at Tamara.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Come on, don't be ridiculous!" Neal protested as Tamara started to step back.

Quickly Emma got her gun out and pointed it at Tamara, trusting August over the woman she didn't know and had a bad feeling about. When her parents held the struggling woman in place, Emma knelt and spoke in her son's ear so that nobody could hear what she was telling him:

"Henry, go get your other grandfather, tell him what's going on. Tell him I need him to play super angry father when he arrives, ready to kill her. It'll help her speak. Go, quickly." Emma asked her son who nodded and ran away with an excited smile while David restrained the struggling woman.

"This is ridiculous Tamara's not a killer, she's not evil! Are you crazy?" Neal protested as he stood out of the way while Blue used her wand to keep Tamara magically restrained.

"Of course I'm not Neal. Don't listen to him, it's obvious he's crazy." Tamara replied.

"You don't speak. Neal, I believe August. there's something weird about her and I immediately felt it. I pushed it aside earlier but now..." Emma shook her head.

"Oh, come on! You've got to be kidding me! Now she's evil? What's next?" Neal rolled his eyes, obviously having a hard time believing them.

"Emma, honey, are you sure?" Snow asked.

"I trust August." Emma nodded.

"Well, of course she trusts him, she obviously loves him if she managed to save him with True Love's kiss." Tamara rolled her eyes.

"And how would you know about True Love's kiss if you didn't know about any of this?" Blue asked Tamara, suspicious as well.

"Because like everyone else here I know fairy tales. My grandmother used to read them to me!" Tamara snapped back.

"Are you really going to pretend that you're not the one who tried to kill me? That you didn't try to get me to leave town earlier today? That you're not the one who killed the Dragon back in Thailand?" August asked her, stepping closer to her with his father's help.

Emma however stopped him from going any closer to the new suspect and stepped slightly between them.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Please tell me that this is some kind of bad joke because none of you are making any sense!" Neal protested, shaking his head.

"Really Neal? You don't find anything suspicious with her? You completely trust her?" Emma asked him.

"Of course I do!" Neal snapped.

"Then why didn't you tell her the truth about you? Why didn't you tell her your real name? If you truly love her and trust her, why didn't you trust her with your truth?" Emma asked him.

"Oh come on!" Neal exclaimed.

"Maybe because you can feel, deep down, that you can't trust her, that she's hiding something from you." Emma tried to convince him.

"When did you meet her, Neal? When I went to find you in New York a few moths ago and told you that I was going to Storybrook to find Emma and try to help her believe and break the curse, you were single. When did you meet her? I'm not an expert in relationships but I know that it takes time to become serious." August asked Neal who paled as he replied:

"Right after you left... I... It was right after you drove off. Oh my God, it was staged, wasn't it? You never even loved me, did you?" Neal exclaimed as he backed away from Tamara while his father appeared with Henry by his side.

Magic had prevented them from having to run all the way back and Emma was thankful that they were here. Henry because when she could see him, he was safe and Gold because he could help force the truth out of Tamara.

"Neal, don't listen to her..." Tamara protested.

"Let's take this somewhere more private before we gather a crowd." David suggested and they all moved to the station.

Marco helped his son along. August was still in a bit of pain but he was alive. Emma stopped him right before they came in, a small blush on her face.

"August, I..." She started but he cut her off with an understanding smile.

"Don't worry Emma, we have all the time to talk about it. I know you want to focus on stopping Tamara right now. We'll talk when you're ready, I'm in no hurry." he smiled.

"Thanks." She nodded before they finally walked in.

Neal didn't look happy at all and had Henry by his side while David explained the Gold what was going on.

"...but I don't know why Emma called you." David finished as she joined them.

Just like she hoped, Gold looked evil and scarier than she had seen him since she got in town. He nodded discreetly her way while Henry gave her a thumbs up, showing her that Gold was playing her game.

"I just thought the Dark One would like a few minutes alone with the woman who was using his son. It's not like we can get the actual law in on this yet and since she looks like she's not going to talk anytime soon... According to the book, the Dark One knows how to make people talk... When they survive his interrogations that is." Emma suggested, mischief in her eyes.

They all understood that it was a plan to scare Tamara off and if her parents weren't too happy with this plan she hadn't shared with them first, they agreed that it was probably the best solution to get things done quickly.

"No! Please, I... I just want to get rid of magic... It's not natural in this world... Neal, you of all people should understand..." Tamara said quickly as Gold rose his glowing hand toward her.

If Blue had looked surprised by Emma's decision at first and afraid when Gold arrived, she now seemed to understand that there was no danger. Emma guessed that the Blue fairy could probably feel that Gold only used a glowing spell, not an actual dark magic one.

"Now, either you tell us who you're working with and what you plan is or I'll leave you alone with Gold for an hour." Emma declared.

"Only an hour? Come on Miss Swan, she used my son and obviously broke his heart... I need more than one hour to work my magic and have fun..." Gold faked a protest.

"Fine an hour and a half." Emma granted under Tamara's horrified stare.

"I thought you were the good guys..." She exclaimed.

"Life taught me that nothing in life is just black and white or in this case, nothing is entirely good or evil. It's all in shades of grey. I'm not against using dark magic if it's to achieve something good and stopping you will definitely be a good thing for this town." Emma explained.

"I don't believe you." She shook her head.

"Fine. Gold, I've change my mind, you have all the time in the world. We'll be at Granny's when you're gone. Come on, Hot cocoa is on me everyone." Emma replied, turning around.

"No, please! It's Henry! We want Henry! We're supposed to use one of the beans and take him back to Neverland. That's where our home office is. They'll use him to destroy magic!" Tamara explained quickly.

"Neverland? No... The Truest believer... It's Henry..." Neal whispered as he held his son closer to him.

"What?" Emma asked as she looked at her parents, not understanding any of it.

"You foolish, stupid woman! Peter Pan is playing you! He's the one behind it all and he doesn't want to destroy magic, he wants to use Henry's heart to be more powerful than he already is!" Gold exclaimed angrily.

"Peter Pan is evil?" Emma asked with surprise evident in her voice.

"Yes..." Neal and Gold said at the same time.

"Something tells me you have a heavy history with him..." David guessed as he looked at the dark one.

"I was in Neverland for a while... He's the worst evil you'll find..." Neal replied, speaking directly to Emma.

"He's... Peter Pan... Peter Pan is or was, my father..." Gold admitted.

"What? How? Why didn't you ever tell me? Why didn't he? I mean, he chased after me for so long in Neverland after I escaped, he could have used this to get me on his side..." Neal exclaimed.

"Admitting that you were his grandson would have made it harder for him to remain a child." Gold replied.

"Okay well, Peter Pan aside, who else is working with you?" Emma asked Tamara.

"Why should I tell you?" She asked.

"Because it's your only chance at staying alive." August replied as he finally found her teaser in her jacket and gave it to Gold who destroyed it after confirming that his father had enchanted it.

Seeing no other option, Tamara ended up by confessing everything. She told them that she had a trailer parked outside of town with their equipment and Hook tied up inside. She told them that they were going to try and convince him to work with them, that they planned to kidnap Regina and to torture her until she revealed what she did with Owen's father and finally, Tamara revealed that Owen was Greg Mendel. She told them about the town's destructive device and the fact that they knew that Regina had stolen beans and was going to use one to leave town with Henry and go back to the Enchanted Forest while everyone else died with the town after she activated the device.

Tamara showed them a leather cuff she was going to use on Regina to prevent her from using magic. It surprised them that she had it in her purse but they decided to be careful when they took it away.

"So, how do we proceed?" David asked.

"Well, Gold, are you willing to help us on this?" Emma asked the Dark One who nodded.

"Of course. If my family's lives are in danger..." He agreed.

"Okay, so Gold, you go with David and Mary-Margaret to get Regina. Neal, you keep Henry with you and you go get Hook. Bring the trailer, I want to see what's in there. August and I will go arrest Greg Mendel. Blue, you don't mind staying here to watch over Tamara until we get back?" Emma decided and everyone agreed.

Of course not, I'll stay here." Blue nodded.

"What if Regina resists?" Snow asked.

"That's why I'm coming, dearie." Gold guessed.

"Yes, but you should still take the cuff and put it on her anyway. It'll keep her restrained until we find what to do with her." Emma replied.

"What about the town's destructive device mom?" Henry asked her.

"I'll go back down there later. When you've done what you need, come back here." Emma said and everyone nodded.

Before she left, Emma called Leroy and explained quickly what was going on, asking him to join Blue at the station and give her a hand. He agreed and Marco assured that he would stay as well.

.

Everything went fine for everyone an hour later, Regina was in jail with Greg and Tamara, unable to use her powers.

"You know Emma, I've been thinking and with the way you've turned back August into a man, I think you could give Belle and Sneezy their memories back... All you need is to believe in yourself." Blue told Emma kindly.

"Really? Well, I guess we'll try later then." She nodded.

"What do we do with the pirate?" David asked.

"That's going to be a problem... Is there any way that the two of you can co-exist without creating trouble?" Emma asked Gold and Hook.

"He tried to kill Belle, why would I let him live?" Gold replied.

"And you killed Milah!" Hook snapped back.

"Because you took her from me, from her son. She left us alone!" Gold replied.

"I didn't take her away, she went willingly." Hook smirked.

"Oh come on you two, give it a rest! Mom left us papa, it's her fault and according to what I've heard, she wasn't very regretful when you ended up finding her and killed her. I know you acted impulsively and you regret killing her. Hook, you have your faults too and you could have convinced her to stay behind or to leave in a more proper way. Stop blaming each other and start moving on with your lives. We're not asking you to be best friends any time soon but at least tolerate each other enough to be able to stand in the same room without starting a war!" Neal snapped.

Hook looked at Neal and for a second, there was something that passed between them. Emma realized that it was almost tender. Hook cared for Neal.

"It looks like you at least have something in common, you both care for Neal. Maybe you should take that into consideration before you make the wrong decisions." Emma reminded them both.

"Fine... I'll give up on trying to kill him." Hook nodded.

"Papa?" Neal asked.

"Fine. As long as I don't have to deal with him too often..." Gold replied.

"Good. Now that this is done, we need to get that destructive device and find a way to destroy it." David said.

"And we need to find out what we'll do about the three of them." Emma added.

"Maybe we can make some sort of safe cell to hold Regina in... The same kind we used back home to hold The Dark One..." Blue suggested.

"I can help, too." Gold offered, willing to show that he was trying to change.

"Okay, so you get started on that when you get the chance. We'll decide what to do with Greg and Tamara tomorrow. A night in jail won't hurt them. I think we all deserve a night of rest. I suggest we go get dinner at Granny's." Emma decided.

"I'll stay here to make sure they don't try to escape or anything." Leroy offered.

"Okay, I'll send Ruby with some food." Emma nodded.

"And we'll ask your bothers to take over so you can rest." David offered.

.

Neal went to spend the evening with his father while Blue helped Emma give Sneezy his memories back at Granny's. When that worked, Emma did the same for Belle and then she finally got some dinner with her parents.

"August isn't joining us tonight?" Snow asked with surprise when Emma came back alone.

"Why would he?" Emma asked, a small blush on her cheeks.

"Oh... I don't know... Maybe because you kissed him and brought him back to life and turned him back into a man." David grinned.

"You know... True Love's kiss..." Snow smiled.

"I... We didn't get a chance to talk about it yet... and he's spending the night with his father... We'll... We'll talk about it later." Emma replied.

"So you're not getting back together with Neal then?" Henry asked.

"No, I don't think so... Henry... I'm sorry but if I can be friends with Neal again, I won't ever be able to trust him again, not fully." Emma shook her head.

"It's okay, I understand." Henry replied, not looking too upset.

"Did Gold explained to you more about Henry being the Truest Believer?" Emma asked her parents and Henry listened carefully.

"He said that Pan wouldn't give up and that he'd send more people after him. He said that you should try to place a protection spell around Henry's heart to prevent Pan from being able tot take it." David replied.

"I'll try it tonight then. I guess we'll have to keep ours eyes open." She nodded.

.

Two days later, things had calmed down and Greg and Tamara were in jail in Boston. She had also gone back to the Library's basement with Hook, August and her dad to get the town's destructive device and with the help of Gold and Blue, she managed to destroy it.

Everything was fine for now and Emma finally thought that it was time for her and August to talk. She was about to call him and ask him to meet her but, once again, he seemed to know that she was ready and he called, asking her out on a date that they ended up having that night.

"How are things with your father?" Emma asked him.

"He feels guilty... He feels like it's his fault if I left you all those years ago at the orphanage... He felt like he let his queen down when he lied to Snow. I think I managed to reassure him." August smiled.

"He shouldn't think too much about the past. It's done. The future's what's important." Emma replied.

" True. I couldn't help but notice that you seem to take your sweet time calling your parents Mom and Dad..." He noticed.

"I... I guess I'm afraid they'll leave me again... I don't want to get too attached if it's to end up alone once more..." Emma confessed.

"They won't. Trust me. You should open up to them before it's too late."

"Maybe I will..." She smiled.

They were having desert now and had spoken about pretty much everything but the kiss. They had even talked about Neal and how August convinced him to leave her so she'd get a new start. Emma had agreed to forgive him and to start on new basis with him. They would speak about the kiss later, maybe after they shared another one.

Right now Emma was happy. Henry was still in danger but they were united to defend him and they would get through it. Anton was planting more beans and in a few weeks they'd be able to get back to the Enchanted Forest. Henry would share his time between the Dark One's castle with his father and Emma who would stay with her parents and try to learn how to be a princess.

Now, to top it all, she had a chance at Love with August and she could feel that she could be very happy with him if she gave them a chance, which she decided to do.

"What has you smiling like that?" August asked Emma before he dropped her off at her parent's loft.

"I was just thinking that I hadn't kissed a puppet since I was a little girl." She replied with a wide teasing smile.

"Do I have a rival? Can I take him?" He replied, amused.

"Don't worry, GI-Joe stayed plastic. You're the only one I turned back into a fully fleshed man." She smiled.

"Good." He nodded before kissing her softly.

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**So, this is short and not as good as it was in my head but I had to get it out to make room for other things. I might rework on it later, or maybe even make it bigger but it's it for now.**

**Now don't get me wrong, I'm a big Captain Swan fan and have been from the very beginning but I still think that Emma has chemistry with everyone and could be an interesting couple with lots of people...**

**What did you think?**

**Check my other stories!**

**Lorelei Candice Black**

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